Virtual machine in Windows 8.1

The link goes to Windows 8 Forums. Not howto geek.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
Hello Syncopator,
Your link not work, it just brings me to the forum home page, please edit the link.

You can try do it to see if it works, I'm not sure because I haven't try it yet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit, Windows 10 64-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Let's see if this works.

Will the procedure in this link How to Get Windows XP Mode on Windows 8 using VMware Player, work in Windows 8.1 ?

Edit: Yes it does.

I simply copied and pasted the URL onto the page. The first effort, in the first post, was, I think, through the editing window's "Link" button/facility. It doesn't work, does it? Moderators please note..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 110-412na
I found it here

There should be no problem setting it up if you have a copy of XP. I have used VMWare Player to run Windows Vista and Windows 7 in "unity mode" as shown in the article. VMWare Player will also run Linux. If you install the VMWare Tools you can drag and drop copy files over to make things easier(say for example you want to get a program working under "Wine in Linux etc.. )

The faster your system and the more ram the better. Windows guest OS ran fairly well on my Toshiba Laptop with 4 GB ram. It would be a lot snappier on a PC with 8GB or more and a quad core or better CPU though.

Edit: The resources needed for XP are less than those for Vista or W7. So XP should run OK on your PC from what I see on the data sheet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
Thank you MilesAhead. I shall do that after sorting out this installation of Windows 8.1, or, more likely, reinstalling it.

I'm forever fighting this user-hostile system and getting to the end of my tether. What I intend to do is use XP in the Virtual machine unless I have a pressing reason not to, and leave 8.1 well alone.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 110-412na
Even better, if you could downgrade to a Windows 7 that supports XPMode you can run it without the Player. The VHD will boot right from that boot menu and run faster. I have been trying to experiment with VHDs in W8.0 without much luck. Soon I think I will put W7 Pro on this Laptop to try out all this fun stuff. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
Interesting comments Miles.

Having been so frustrated with 8.1 I don't relish crossing swords with another unknown - especially since I bought 8.1 discs from Microsoft after having to uninstall the astonishing amount of rubbish which H.P put on and buried in the restore (or whatever it was called) partition.

What pitfalls have you encountered in 8.0 during your experiments with virtual hard drives?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 110-412na
Mostly it is the OS image not booting. Windows 7 x64 is supposed to work with UEFI as long as secure boot is disabled. It gets as far as the "starting Windows" and hangs. The only one to make it all the way through to a desktop was Windows Server 2012 R2. Not something I really want to run on a Laptop.

The only USB boot I was able to use were either a WinPE recovery created by Macrium Reflect or the Windows 8 Recovery disc which gives a command prompt etc..

Anything Linux I tried to boot from a USB thumb did not come up. The system disk is formatte3d GPT so there's not much point in enabling Legacy Mode boot. The other factor is that right now this is the only computer I have. I'm not inclined to take too many chances where it may become inoperable. When I get some guinea pig machines then perhaps I'll explore VHD in greater depth.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
I run 6 different virtual systems under VMware Player and they all work. Here is a tutorial I made that may give you some additional information. It describes Win 10 and Win 8.1 on a Win 7 host, but the principle is the same for any OS on any host.

PS - just be aware that you need an unused XP product key to run it under VM. Running under any VM is like running on a new system. The XP product key that you might have from your old XP installation will not do.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
I don't understand much of that Miles. However, the instructions in that article on howtogeek seem straightforward, so I will give it a try.


PS - just be aware that you need an unused XP product key to run it under VM. Running under any VM is like running on a new system. The XP product key that you might have from your old XP installation will not do.

That's worrying. I don't remember details now, but I'm pretty sure that I have used the same product key when I installed XP on a newly acquired computer, having previously used that key on the older machine.

But that's a bridge to be crossed when I come to it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 110-412na
I have my old XP retail CD and have installed it on VMware Player, works fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Yes, if it is a retail license that is no more installed on another system it works. But not an OEM license.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Yes, if it is a retail license that is no more installed on another system it works. But not an OEM license.

Yes, as you say, only installed on VM. Stopped using it as primary OS years ago. Comes in handy for old games though. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Well, it certainly looks as if there's a way through the maze.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 110-412na
The nice thing about XPMpde is it is a licensed copy of XP for download. Next time I have a W7 machine to mess with I'm going to try it. Back when I had a machine running W7 I didn't realize it ran right off the hardware with the exception the hard disk virtualizes to the .vhd file.

Good luck with the VM. VMWare Player is very easy to set up. The only issues I had were when the OS was not in the list. Mainly Linux guest OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.0 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satelite C55D-A Laptop
    CPU
    AMD EI 1200
    Memory
    4 gb DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Raedon 340 MB dedicated Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built in
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    640 GB (spinner) Sata II
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Touch pad
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